by Molefi Lebone
“If I go first, I’ll wait for you there,
On the other side of the dark waters,” he told me.
“If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack.
A glance from your eyes and my life would be yours,”
I told him.
Minutes later I saw his charred body in the street.
Dancing, ululating and in shock, from standbys.
They just watched and stood back.
They had put a tyre around his neck
Till he became a running fire
Because he liked men.
He was my source of all that is going to be born.
He was my glory, my truth and my peace.
A father sjamboks his son.
To get rid of the filth,
He beats the demons out of him.
As he whips, he yells,
He is too soft.
He is too soft hearted.
He is not tough-fibred enough.
How did this evil steal into the world?
What seed, what root did it grow from?
What have we done to deserve this?
Why are they killing us,
Robbing us of life and light?
Does our ruin benefit the earth?
Does it help the grass to grow and the sun to shine?